Hickory, North Carolina appears in the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System with 2,053 registered healthcare providers spanning 20 distinct NUCC-taxonomy specialties. This count includes every individual clinician who has applied for an NPI and listed a practice address in Hickory — physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors, physical therapists, optometrists, psychologists, podiatrists, and every other credentialed provider type CMS tracks. It does not measure hospital beds, urgent-care capacity, or whether a given clinic is accepting new patients; it measures the pool of professionals with current NPI enrollment and a Hickory practice location on file.

The provider mix in Hickory is weighted toward Pharmacist (110 clinicians, followed by Clinical Social Worker with 107 and Physician Assistant with 104). That distribution reflects how NPPES records specialty: providers self-select a primary taxonomy code, so a family physician who also practices geriatrics will show up under whichever NUCC code they registered first. Relative to North Carolina's population, Hickory reports roughly 18.9 providers per 100,000 residents using the state-level denominator, which is a rough proxy rather than a precise access-to-care measurement; the true catchment area of any {cityName} clinician extends beyond the municipal boundary.

For Hickory patients, this directory is most useful as a starting shortlist — searching by specialty narrows the 690-taxonomy roster to clinicians with the relevant training, and each provider page links to NPI, state licensing boards, and the NPPES registry for credential verification. Important: PlainDoctor is a directory of publicly available CMS government data, not a review site, a ranking, or medical advice. NPPES data is self-reported and refreshed monthly, so listing details may be out of date; call the practice directly to confirm the provider is still there, accepts your insurance, and is taking new patients. Nothing on this page substitutes for consulting a licensed clinician about your personal health decisions.